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Jaden Teague-Núñez made history with steelpan drum performance
A talented Illinois high schooler has won the acclaim of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra by mastering a rare instrument: the steelpan drum.
Jaden Teague-Núñez, 16, won first place at the CSO’s Young Artists Competition and is being called one of the most talented young steelpan players in the country.
“I think it’s really amazing to know that I can do this, because there’s not really many steelpan players out there in the world, there are not many high-level steelpan players that are kids,” Teague-Núnez said.
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The son of two musicians, he moved from Panama to DeKalb when he was three. His mom played principal viola with the Panama National Symphony. His dad is the head of the steelpan studies at the NIU School of Music, so he naturally gravitated to the steel drum.
“My dad just gave me the steelpan when I was around 7 or 8 for my birthday,” he said. “I ended up falling in love with it.”
The steelpan drum is an instrument traditionally made from an oil drum but today is crafted from high-quality steel. Dents are hammered into the pan and tempered for tone, giving the steel drums a sweet sound, and enormous musical range.
Teague-Núñez is a sophomore at DeKalb High School. His fast fingers – sometimes holding multiple mallets – can play just about anything, from calypso to classical.
“We can go onto the Bach violin concerto, and then you can also play jazz. you can do Donna Lee or ‘All the Things You Are.’ There are so many things you can do on the pan,” he said.
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Steve Lundin, DeKalb High School’s Director of Bands, said there’s a certain joy found in steelpan music.
“I like to think of it as like a ‘singing metal’ that when you strike it, you get this moment where there’s a resonance that can only be created when you have a singing metal,” Lundin said.
Teague-Núñez’s victory at the CSO competition was the first time a steelpan player had ever won.
“So that’s a big deal, just from a historical perspective,” Lundin said.
The first-place finish means Teague-Núñez will appear as a soloist in a Chicago Symphony Orchestra youth concert during the 2024-25 season.
“I want to be a soloist,” he says, “but not just with symphony orchestras, but also being able to show the pan in jazz ensembles.”
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